Leaky faucets on Boeing 787s become the latest issue

Leaky faucets on Boeing 787s becomes the latest issue
Photo Credit: Boeing.
Adrian Olstad 4 Min Read
4 Min Read

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has not been a smooth-sailing aircraft type through the years, with multiple issues found and deliveries being paused multiple times due to concerns of production flaws.

However, the FAA has now issued another safety bulletin for the aircraft type regarding leaky faucets in the airplane bathrooms, which could pose a safety hazard as water is flowing into the airplane’s electronic systems.

A safety problem, the FAA says


In recent concerns by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), regulators have found that leaking faucets on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner can pose a safety hazard by water seeping into the aircraft electronics during flight, potentially leading to unsafe flight operations.

The FAA on Friday, April 7, proposed to order repetitive inspections of the type, in which, if leaks are found, they will be repaired by replacing parts.

The proposal comes after reports of water from the lavatories getting under the floor and into the electronic bay.

According to CBS News, the agency said there have been observations of wet carpets in the cockpit of a plane, which was later found to be relevant on more airplanes as the company inspected multiple of their Boeing 787 aircraft and found leaky faucets. The airline remains undisclosed.

Boeing has reportedly addressed and advised airlines regarding the issue already in November of 2022, which was traced to a “slow leak” of around 8 ounces of water per hour.

[monsterinsights_popular_posts_inline]

Boeing has addressed that this issue regards a few Boeing 787s, whilst the FAAs inspection proposal would cover all of them.

The inspection would apply to 140 787s in US carrier’s fleets. A 45-day period will be in place for comments before the proposal becomes a final order.

The last stoppage was as early as February


Back in February, Boeing saw the Dreamliner deliveries set to a halt as Boeing was made aware that there was an analysis error in its documentation with regard to the Boeing 787 Dreamliners’ forward pressure bulkhead.

This particular piece of the 787 Dreamliners’ fuselage is manufactured by Spirit AeroSystems (“Spirit”).

Spirit was made aware that the manufacturer had since temporarily halted deliveries of the type whilst the investigation and resolution are adopted.

As part of this pause in deliveries, Boeing has thus notified the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) of the discovered analysis error and, as such, decided deliveries of the type will not be resumed until the FAA is fully satisfied that the error has been rectified, which it as of the time of writing appears to have.

Deliveries resumed


As of April 2023, Boeing 787 Dreamliners have resumed delivery to customers, with the latest announced deliveries being to the Indian carrier Vistara and Singapore Airlines, per Planespotters.net data.

The Vistara bound airframe, VT-TSP (MSN 66531), was recorded on its delivery flight on March 30 from the Charleston production plant to Delhi, India.

The aircraft is of the Boeing 787-9 variant and becomes the fourth Boeing 787 Dreamliner in the Vistara fleet.

The airframe of the Singapore Airlines delivery, 9V-SCS (MSN 60268), was seen delivered on April 1 from Charleston to Singapore, and the airframe is of the Boeing 787-10 variant, which Singapore Airlines now has 16 of, according to Planespotters.net

TAGGED:
You Might Also Enjoy